Art Like Me

When I was seventeen I was accused of making pornographic art.

I used a feather brush over the skin on my thighs

The rosy crook of the elbow

A bare neck beneath auburn hair

I knew how to make straight lines out of the mouths of my teachers

Saw the way their toes scrunched with anxiety

Casting their eyes towards anything more comfortable

I was asked to wait until college before I made art like that

Before I made art like me

My body was condemned an inappropriate site

If it was my decision to put it on display

The infomercials in the morning advertised lat-ban surgery

 Weird elastic you could squeeze under your jeans

To reveal a body that wasn’t yours.

I painted myself naked on a six by four canvas

Used it as the centerpiece of the art show at the end of the year

This is how I wear my body in the world

This is how I know how to make my skin

Something I am not afraid of